The Viking Shield Regatta is held before the start of the CARA coastal rowing Regatta Season.
The Viking Shield is a trophy awarded annually to the fastest coastal pair from a Kent coastal rowing club. The winning club also have the honour of hosting the Regatta the following year.
The event has a special significance for Herne Bay Rowing Club as Ryan Hosking and Darren Ingram won the shield 10 times in a row and in recognition of this Herne Bay named a pair boat after them in 2010.
Their run came to an end in 2009 but the shield remained in Herne Bay when Ashley Epps and Andy Cooper beat Ryan and Darren.
According to its inscription, the shield was originally presented in 1925 by Emil Olskov-Hansen and Niels Ventegodt of the “Viking” Rowing Club, Langturs, Denmark (NB The spelling of some of these names may be suspect). The inscription continues :
“These two Danish Oarsmen rowed across the North Sea in an open Yole pair boat and were guests of the Kent Rowing clubs on the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th July 1925, while on their way to tour the European waters. They travelled light with minimum camping equipment packed under the Bow canvas of their boat.”
The pair were members of Odense Rowing Club in Denmark. Niels Ventegodt was keen on long distance rowing, he had founded the Viking Long distance Rowing Club in 1916 and had ambitions of rowing all the way to Bombay in India by rotating the crew but that effort ended off the coast of Spain when the boat “Viking” was wrecked in the Bay of Biscay. For some early parts of the journey, before crossing the Channel, Niels Ventegodt”s crew consisted of his wife “Edel” and his dog “Buster”.
There used to be more information (in Danish) on the Odense Rowing Club Website but that page only survives (without pictures) in the internet archive of the site.
The annual Viking Shield Regatta comprises a full programme of coastal rowing events which are not restricted to Kent coastal clubs (non-Kent clubs can also enter the senior pairs race but if they win the race, they don’t get the shield!). Entries have also come from the Sussex CARA clubs, some Kent river rowing clubs and coastal crews from further away.
in 2025 to celebrate 100 years since the shield was presented it has been refurbished and inscribed with the names of recent winners :
